


Glass Eyes

by Sir_Weston



Category: South Park
Genre: Adults being incompetant, Butters being adorable, Delirium, Gen, Haunted Houses, Horror, Insanity, Madness, Mirrors, Monsters, Shapeshifting, Some Humor, Stuttering, Suicide Attempt, mentions of Creek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-01-04 03:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12160698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Weston/pseuds/Sir_Weston
Summary: It's been there... watching... from the very beginning. Silently observing, but never interfering... watching through those glass eyes...A terrible creature is terrorizing South Park, and the police and adults are at a loss of what to do. This creature is so terrifying, it can drive people to utter madness. Only the kids of South Park can do anything to stop this creature. But how do you fight the embodiment of madness itself? Madness with that toothy grin, and those terrifying, staring glass eyes...





	1. In Which Butters Takes a Walk Through the Woods

Butters was generally a pretty easy kid to get along with. He was almost always seen with a smile on his face, and very few things upset him. It was very hard for anyone to truly hate him.

As Butters walked through the woods, he sang to himself happily, not a care in the world. Leaves crunched under his feet as he walked. Spring had given way into fall, and the leaves were starting to fall off their trees. Butters made a small jump onto some leaves and listened to the satisfying crunch.

“Boy, days don’t get much better than today,” he said to himself. But that feeling suddenly dissipated as a weird feeling entered his stomach. Butters stopped and looked around, trying to see if there was anything out there.

In the distance, he thought he saw an odd creature standing and staring at him. It was too far away to tell what it was. It started to walk towards Butters, but he blinked once and it was gone.

“Gee, that sure was odd,” Butters muttered. “I must be hallucinating again.”

He walked on and soon came across a small pond. Smiling to himself, he went over to it and stared into the water to see if there were any fish. He saw his reflection smiling back at him and waved. His reflection waved too.

“Heh, heh, this is fun,” Butters laughed to himself. He looked back at his reflection, but something was off about it. It was still smiling like Butters, but now the eyes were blank and glassy looking. Butters blinked and rubbed his eyes, then looked back into the water. Now his reflection was also giving him a toothy grin.

“Wh-What’s going on?” Butters stuttered, backing away from the pond. His reflection started reaching towards him.

Suddenly, the reflection started reaching out of the pond. As Butters stared in horror, his reflection climbed out of the pond and slowly started morphing into something else. Something inhuman. It started stretching and growing, and its skin grew pale. Soon a horrifying creature stood in front of Butters, a terrible smile stretched on its face. It had pale, almost see-through skin, and was completely hairless. It was tall and lanky, but hunched over so that its spine showed. It was skinny, so much so that Butters could see every rib. Its arms were long enough to touch the ground. It had a long rat-like tail. Six tendrils of flesh hung from the side of its head. The only features on its face were the wide grin, and those pale glass eyes.

Butters stared in absolute horror as the creature slowly started walking towards him, reaching one bony arm towards him. Finally, Butters found his voice, let out a petrified scream, and ran for his life. He ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, praying that his legs wouldn’t give out on him.

…

All the other fourth graders were at the school playground, hanging around and having a good time. Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman were playing basketball with each other (Cartman refusing to pass the ball) when suddenly they heard screaming in the distance. After smacking the ball out of Cartman’s hands, Kyle stopped.

“Hey, do you guys hear that?” he asked.

Stan stopped as well. “Hear what?” he wondered.

“It’s sounds like screaming.”

“The only thing I hear,” Cartman said, dribbling past them, “is the sound of me winning!” He tossed the ball at the hoop, where it bounced off the rim, then sailed back and hit him right in the face. Cartman fell back onto the pavement, holding his nose. “GOD DAMN IT!” he shouted angrily.

Everything came to a halt as Butters suddenly burst out of the woods, screaming. All the kids gathered to see what was wrong as Butters ran headlong into Stan, knocking them both to the ground in a heap.

“Butters?!” Stan was confused, “Butters, what’s wrong?”

“It’s after me!” Butters babbled, “It’s coming!”

“Whoa, calm down,” Stan said, standing and helping Butters to his feet. By this time all of the other kids had gathered around them. “What’s coming? What’s after you?”

“Th-That thing!” Butters cried, “Terrible! Horrible! With those claws! And that grin! That grin! And oh, so fleshy! But those eyes! Those terrible, horrible eyes like glass! Staring and watching!”

“You’re not making any sense, Butters,” Kyle told him, “Try to focus.”

“Yeah,” Cartman agreed, “Babbling incoherent nonsense is Tweek’s thing.”

“What?” Tweek growled, glaring at him.

“(Don’t worry, guys,)” Kenny said, stepping forward, “(I’ve got this.)” He calmly took the front of Butters’ shirt, then suddenly and violently started shaking him. “(GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, MAN!)” Kenny shouted at the boy, “(YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN!)”

“Waaaahhhh!” Butters screamed as Kenny shook him.

“Kenny!” Stan scolded, “You’re not helping!” He gently swatted Kenny away and stood in front of Butters. “It’s ok, Butters. Just calm down and tell us: what’s coming after you?”

Butters took a moment to calm his shivering. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his eyes were wide.

“A monster!” he exclaimed, “There’s a monster in the woods!”


	2. In Which the Boys Play an Innocent Game and Someone is Almost Killed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one believes Butters about the monster. Then the four boys decide to play Bloody Mary, but things go wrong.

The children all stared at Butters looking stunned. An eerie silence fell over them all. Suddenly, Cartman burst out laughing.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Good one, Butters!” Cartman laughed, “You really had us all going there for a minute! Monster! Ha!”

Butters’s eyes widened. “B-B-But there really was a monster!” he insisted, “It was chasin’ me and everything!”

“Forgive me if I find that hard to believe,” Cartman sneered.

“Yeah, no offense, Butters, but that doesn’t really sound believable,” Kyle added.

Everyone else agreed and started dispersing. But Butters wasn’t done. “I-I can prove it!” he exclaimed. Everyone stopped.

“Really? You can prove it?” Clyde asked, skeptically.

“I can!” Butters said defiantly. “C-Come on! I’ll show ya!” He quickly ushered them all back towards the forest and they had no choice but to follow him.

Butters led the group to the pond where the creature had emerged and stopped. It wasn’t anywhere in sight. As the group looked around in confusion, Butters started panicking a little.

“It was here!” he insisted, “It was right here! It came out o’ the pond an’ everything! Ya gotta believe me, fellas!”

“Do we?” Cartman asked snarkily.

“What did this thing look like, Butters?” Stan wondered. Maybe if he described his delusion it would help him feel better.

“Well, it was all pale, like it hasn’t been in the sun before,” Butters began, “It was tall a-and hunched over. A-And its skin was really tight, and its face! It had this wide grin, and its eyes… its eyes…”

Stan cocked his head as Butters trailed off, staring off into the distance at something only he could see. He seemed truly traumatized.

“Butters?” Stan said gently, giving his friend a light nudge. Butters suddenly fell to the ground, curling himself into the fetal position. He rocked back and forth.

“Eyes…” he whispered, “Eyes…”

“Damn it, Butters,” Cartman grumbled, “Get a hold of yourself!”

“Come on, guys,” Kyle sighed, “We should probably get him home. It’s getting late anyway.” The others agreed, and Stan and Kyle helped Butters to his feet. They carried him between them all the way back home.

No one noticed the pair of eyes watching them. Silently staring and observing their every move.

…

“Can you believe Butters?” Cartman snickered as he sat on Stan’s couch, “Trying to scare us all like that? What an asshole!”

“I don’t know, Cartman, he seemed really freaked out,” Kyle reasoned, “I don’t know if what he saw was a monster, but I’m sure he saw something. Maybe like a bear or deer that from a distance kind of looked like a monster.”

“(You sure about that?)” Kenny asked.

“Yeah, he seemed really certain about what he saw,” Stan pointed out.

Kyle scoffed. “It was probably his imagination running away with him,” he said, “But still, that doesn’t mean he deserves to be made fun of for it.”

“Yes, he does,” Cartman countered.

The four friends were sitting on Stan’s couch playing video games. Stan had wanted to avoid talking about Butters’s freak out yesterday, but apparently Cartman wanted to bring it to the forefront and make fun of Butters for it.

“This is getting boring,” Cartman eventually declared, throwing his controller to the floor, “Let’s do something else.”

Stan sighed and rolled his eyes. “Don’t throw my controller on the floor, fat ass,” he said.

Cartman ignored him. “Come on guys,” he whined, “What can we do to have fun?”

“(Oh! I’ve got it! Let’s get naked!)” Kenny suggested excitedly.

“No, let’s save that for when we’re selling real estate,” Stan told him.

“I’ve got it,” Cartman said after a minute of silence. He grinned at his friends. They felt a sinking feeling in their stomachs. “We can play… Bloody Mary!”

Kyle exhaled. “Really?” he asked, “That’s your big idea?”

“What?” Cartman said, “Butters put the idea in my head with his stupid ramblings today. Let’s make some real scares!”

“Bloody Mary is stupid, though!” Kyle complained.

Cartman grinned slyly at him. “What? You scared or something, Kahl?” he hissed.

Kyle scoffed. “I’m not afraid of some stupid legend!” he declared.

“Then prove it.”

“Fine!” Kyle hopped off the couch and headed towards the bathroom with the other three following. Cartman wore a huge shit eating grin on his face.

When all four of them had crammed into the bathroom, Kenny pulled out a candle from his coat (don’t ask where he got it), lit it, then set on the sink, and Stan turned off the lights. Cartman looked at Kyle.

“After you,” he said.

“This was your stupid idea,” Kyle pointed out. Cartman frowned.

“Yeah, but you’re the one who doesn’t believe,” he argued.

“All the more reason for you to do it.”

“Fine!” Cartman snapped, “Stan, do you have a stool I can stand on?”

After they were all set up, Cartman carefully stepped up onto the stool and looked into the mirror. He could see his reflection. It looked rather ominous in the candle light. He took a deep breath.

“Bloody Mary…” he whispered. Nothing changed.

“Bloody Mary…” His reflection started smiling.

“Bloody Mary…” The reflection’s eyes suddenly turned misty and glazed over, like glass. Cartman stared, his heart beating faster as his reflection suddenly started moving on its own. His eyes widened. It started to reach for him.

“Anything happening, Cartman?” Stan asked, unable to see the mirror.

Cartman didn’t reply. The reflection was changing, morphing into a terrible creature, exactly like the one Butters had described. Cartman watched in horror, and stumbled backwards, falling onto the floor as the creature started reaching out of the mirror.

“What’s going on?” Kyle wondered. He, Stan, and Kenny took a few steps back so they could see the mirror better. Their jaws all dropped.

The creature was now halfway out of the mirror, its wide grin never leaving its face, its glass eyes staring. It placed its claws on the sink and pulled itself all the way out. It towered over the boys, grinning all the while.

“Run,” Stan whispered.

All four boys scrambled towards the door. The moment they moved, the creature lashed out, its claws slicing the air where they were a second ago. The boys crashed into the door, and Stan desperately tried to get it open as the creature delicately lowered itself from the sink.

“Come on, Stan!” Cartman yelled, “Open the door!”

“I can’t!” Stan snapped, as the creature slowly moved towards them, “You’re leaning on the door! It opens inwards, fat ass!”

Cartman quickly took a step away, and Stan finally got the door open. The four boys dashed out to the main room, but not before the creature grabbed hold of Kyle’s leg and started dragging him back towards the door.

“Help!” Kyle called. Stan stopped in his tracks and turned back.

“Kyle!” he yelled. He and Kenny quickly ran back and grabbed Kyle’s arms. Somehow, they managed to pull him away from the creature, and Stan quickly slammed the bathroom door shut on it.

“Quick! Get something to block the door!” he cried to his friends. Cartman, Kyle, and Kenny all grabbed a piece of furniture and ran to where Stan was keeping the door closed. They quickly blocked it off.

There was one pound. Two pounds. Then silence.


	3. In Which They Name the Creature Because They’re Tired of Calling It the Glass Eyed Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan and his friends try to come up with a way to fight the creature. It... doesn't go over that well.

The boys stared in horror at the bathroom door. Everything seemed quiet, but that could just be false hope. Maybe it was just waiting for them to open the door. Then, it would strike.

“So,” Cartman said after a minute of silence, “Who wants to see if that monster is gone?”

No one said anything.

“I’m not opening that door,” Stan decided, “It can stay locked in my bathroom forever, for all I care.”

“What about when your parents come home?” Kyle reminded him. Stan thought for a moment.

“Fuck that!” he declared, “I’m not opening that door!”

“(But won’t your parents get mad that you blocked off the bathroom?)” Kenny wondered.

“What part of ‘I’m not opening that door’ do you not understand?” Stan hissed.

An argument would have broken out, but at that moment, Stan’s parents came home, opening the front door and calling out a loud greeting. Stan quickly turned to his friends.

“Okay, whatever you do, don’t tell my parents that we’ve locked a monster in the bathroom,” he explained.

“Got it,” Cartman replied, making the “ok” sign with his hand.

The four friends went downstairs to greet Stan’s parents. They smiled sweetly at them, as if they weren’t in trouble, and the parents smiled back.

“Hello boys,” Sharon said, “How was your evening?”

“We locked a monster in the bathroom!” Cartman blurted out immediately.

“Cartman!” Stan shouted, glaring at him.

“Sorry, Stan! She wore me down!”

Randy gave the boys a confused look. “A monster?” he repeated, “You’ve locked a monster in the bathroom? Really?”

“No, Randy,” Sharon sighed, “This is obviously a game the boys are playing. Right boys? You’re just playing a game?”

The boys all stared at her for a moment. “Uh, yeah! It’s just a game!” Stan said quickly, “There’s not really a monster in the bathroom!”

“(Yes, there is!)” Kenny pointed out before Kyle nudged him hard in the ribs.

Randy and Sharon laughed. “Oh, you boys!” Randy chuckled. He started to head upstairs and Stan grew slightly panicked.

“Uh, where are you going dad?” he asked in a slightly fearful voice.

“To the bathroom!” Randy replied, “I don’t want to give you boys the details, but oh boy was the food at that restaurant spicy!”

“But you can’t go in there!” Stan objected, “That’s where the glass eyed monster is!”

Sharon sighed. “Boys, I think we can put your little game on hold for a bit,” she said.

“But- “

“AAHH!” Stan was cut off by a shout from upstairs. The boys quickly ran up the steps to where the bathroom was. Stan was prepared to see his father being torn to shreds.

“Heh, sorry,” Randy apologized, “It was dark. Scared myself a little.”

As Randy closed the door, the boys stared in shock. Stan quickly ushered his friends into his own room. Once he closed the door, he turned to them. “Ok, where did the glass eyed monster go?” he asked.

“I have no idea!” Kyle exclaimed, “Did it somehow get out of the bathroom?”

“(It could be anywhere!)” Kenny realized.

“Oh my God,” Cartman said slowly, “Everyone is so dead.”

“Not necessarily,” Stan pointed out, “Maybe we can catch it before it can hurt anyone.”

His three friends stared at him like he was mad. Kyle stepped forward and put a hand on Stan’s shoulder. He looked his best friend directly in the eye. His face was totally serious. He took a breath.

“No,” he said.

“Just hear me out,” Stan quickly said.

“No, Stan. No.” Kyle objected, “How are four ten-year-old boys supposed to catch a creature like that? I felt like it was looking right into my soul with those eyes!”

“I know, Kyle, I know,” Stan comforted him, putting his hands on his shoulders, “We don’t know what this thing is capable of. But we have to stop it before it hurts someone! Not everyone is as smart as we are.”

“That’s true,” Kyle murmured.

“And what do you suggest we do, Stan?” Cartman wondered, “Just wander around with a big net and a mallet and wait for it to appear?”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Of course not,” he replied, “I have a full proof plan.”

“(What is it?)” Kenny asked. Stan blinked at him.

“I actually, all I have are the words ‘I have a full proof plan’” he admitted, “Beyond that I’m wide open.”

“We could go talk to Butters,” Kyle suggested.

“Why?” Cartman asked, rolling his lip up in a disgusted sneer.

“He was the first one to encounter the glass eyed monster,” Kyle pointed out, “Maybe he can help us out.”

Cartman scoffed. “Yeah right,” he muttered, “I doubt it. He would only be good for bait.”

…

A few minutes later, the boys were knocking on Butters’s front door. There was no car in the driveway, telling them that his parents were out. They heard a shaky voice from inside.

“W-Who is i-it?” Butters called out.

“It’s us, Butters,” Stan replied, “Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman!”

There was a moment’s pause. They heard shuffling and the sound of a lock being undone. The door opened just a crack, and Butters peeked out. Once he was sure it was really them, he opened the door a little wider.

“C-Come in,” he said. The four boys brushed past him into the living room.

Stan turned to Butters and noticed how badly he was shaking. If he had more hair, he could’ve mistaken him for Tweek Tweak.

“Are you ok, Butters?” he felt obliged to ask. Butters sighed.

“N-Not really,” he answered, “I-I haven’t s-stopped sh-shaking and s-stuttering since y-y-yesterday. And I’ve t-tried to! B-But whenever I c-close my eyes I see it!” He shivered. “The glass eyed m-monster!” He looked at the four friends. “N-Not that you f-fellas believe m-me.”

“Actually, we do believe you, Butters,” Kyle told him. Butters looked up a little hopefully.

“Y-You d-do?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Stan replied, “We just saw it at my house. We had it locked in my bathroom but it escaped somehow. It looked like just how you described it.”

“W-Wow,” Butters murmured, “S-So I’m not c-crazy.”

“Oh, you’re probably crazy,” Cartman argued, “Just not about that.”

“Since you were the first to encounter the glass eyed monster, we thought you could help us out in trying to catch it,” Stan explained.

“G-Gee, I d-don’t know, fellas,” Butters muttered, rubbing his knuckles together, “That s-seems k-kinda dangerous.”

“Great! Glad you’re on board!” Cartman explained, “And the first order of business: giving this thing a name so we don’t have to keep calling it the glass eyed monster.”

Stan sighed. “Is that really important, Cartman?” he asked.

“Yes,” Cartman said, stubbornly folding his arms, “I refuse to move on until we have a name for this thing. I vote Elvis.”

Stan, Kyle, and Butters stared at him. “Okay, so who has something to say that’s not stupid?” Stan wondered, causing Cartman to frown.

“(Hey guys!)” Kenny called from Butters’s computer. He had walked away from the group a while ago. “(Come look at this article I found!)”

“Kenny, we don’t have time to look at porn,” Kyle sighed.

“(No, seriously, come here!)” Kenny urged, “(I found this article about a creature that looks like the glass eyed monster. There’s not much to go on, but apparently people who’ve seen it call it Delirium.)”

“Delirium?” Stan repeated, “What does that mean?”

“Oh! I know!” Kyle exclaimed, “Delirium is basically a state of madness and confusion. Sometimes caused by disease, or medications.”

“Smart ass,” Cartman muttered.

“G-Golly,” Butters stuttered, looking over the article, “It says it’s a-an ancient c-creature that w-was summoned b-by a super old c-cult. It d-drives people t-to m-madness j-just by touchin’ em!”

“(Scary,)” Kenny shivered.

“Is that all there is?” Stan wondered.

“(Yup,)” Kenny replied, “(This article doesn’t even reach the bottom of the page. And I couldn’t find anything else about it.)”

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter,” Stan said, “I think I might have a plan to catch that thing.”

“Then w-what do y-ya n-need me for?” Butters asked.

“Oh!” Stan exclaimed, “You’re the bait.”

“Oh, ok… Wait, w-what?”


	4. In Which Delirium Outwits the Boys at Every Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan has a plan to catch Delirium. It doesn't work.

It was already late. Darkness covered the town, and the moon was covered by a thin layer of clouds. How atmospheric.

Stan led the way down the street, pulling a wagon with him. Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny walked beside him while Butters sat in the wagon with a bunch of supplies. He was firmly tied up with rope and was rather confused by how he got into this situation.

“Um, S-Stan?” Butters called, “W-Why do I h-have to be t-tied up again?”

“I’ll tell you when we set up the plan,” Stan told him.

“What is the plan again?” Kyle wondered, “I don’t remember you telling us.”

“That’s because I didn’t,” Stan replied.

Kyle stared expectantly at Stan, waiting for him to explain, but he never did. He led the group towards the woods, where Butters had first seen the monster. Butters immediately started to panic.

“NO! I-I DON’T W-WANNA G-GO IN THERE!” he screamed, startling the boys, “YOU C-CAN’T M-MAKE ME GO!”

“Butters! Calm down!” Stan begged, trying to keep him still, “It’ll be okay! Come on! This is the only way we can catch that thing!”

Cartman and Kenny quickly rushed to the wagon to hold onto Butters, who was thrashing around wildly. Cartman jumped into the wagon, pushed Butters down, and sat on him. Butters let out a chocking sound.

“Got him to calm down, Stan!” Cartman announced proudly.

Stan looked at him, skeptically. “Ok, just make sure he doesn’t suffocate,” he told his fat friend. He then resumed pulling the wagon, albeit with much more difficulty. Even with Kyle and Kenny pushing from behind.

Eventually, they reached the pond where Delirium first emerged. Stan stopped and set to work getting out supplies from the wagon. Kyle and the others watched as Stan started setting the stuff in some sort of elaborate trap. When he was finished, he turned to his friends.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” he said, “When Delirium comes, he’ll chase Butters, and Butters will lure him over to this bear trap, which will clamp onto its leg, and then we can shove it over this trip wire and lock it up in this cage.”

“Why do you think it’ll chase Butters and not one of us?” Kyle wondered.

“Because we’ll be hiding, obviously!” Stan replied in a voice that made it sound like it should’ve been obvious, “And Butters, make sure you don’t step on the bear trap while you’re running away from Delirium.”

“Uh, d-do I r-really h-have to be the one t-to l-lure the m-monster?” Butters asked nervously.

“Well, none of us want to do it,” Cartman pointed out.

“(So, uh, how exactly how do we lure Delirium out?)” Kenny asked, “(We kind of did it by accident last time.)”

“Huh, that’s a good question,” Kyle said, “Butters, what were you doing when Delirium came out of the pond?”

Butters swallowed, fearfully recalling his encounter. “W-Well, I was w-walking a-along in the w-woods,” he started, “A-And I was s-singin’ and w-what not. Then I came t-to the p-pond, a-and I w-was lookin’ at m-my reflection when it s-started to change.”

“Hey! That’s what happened to me when I was doing the Bloody Mary thing!” Cartman realized excitedly.

“So, I guess Delirium only comes through reflective surfaces?” Stan pondered.

“Sounds like it,” Kyle agreed.

“Okay, Butters, you have to stare at your reflection until Delirium comes, all right?” Cartman ordered. Butters shook violently.

“Ooh, w-why me?” he moaned as Stan and the others all ran and hid behind a tree. Shuddering, he carefully walked over to the pond and leaned over just far enough that he could see over the edge. The moon provided just enough light so Butters could see his reflection. It looked just as scared as he did.

“Is anything happening yet?” Stan called from the tree.

“N-Not yet!” Butters called back. He glanced over the edge of the pond again. His reflection stared back at him. Then, it grinned at him. Then, the eyes glazed over like glass. As Butters slowly backed away in fear, Delirium reached out one clawed hand from the pond, pulling itself out.

“Oh hamburgers,” Butters breathed.

Delirium stood before him, grinning down at him, and staring with its blank, glass eyes. It didn’t move from the spot, but gently swayed from side to side. Butters stared in fear at it, frozen to the spot, just waiting for it to attack him.

“Butters!” Kyle hissed from behind the tree, “Run!”

Upon hearing Kyle’s voice, Butters quickly snapped out of it and took off running. The moment he moved, Delirium sprang into action. It sliced the air where Butters had been, then leaped forward, chasing him. Butters screamed with fear as he ran, and just barely remembered to avoid the bear trap. Delirium landed, its foot landing right on the trap. Its cry of pain when the trap snapped shut on its ankle was just as frightening as Delirium itself.

While it was distracted, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman quickly ran from their hiding place, rushing the creature, and pushing it over the trip wire Stan had set up. Hissing, it fell over, rolling into the cage where Stan quickly shut and locked it.

“Yeah!” Kyle exclaimed joyfully, “We did it!”

“I told you it would work,” Stan bragged, “Now we just have to-“

He was cut off as Delirium stood up in the cage. It walked forward and, right before their very eyes, melted through the bars, and reformed on the other side.

“Oh dear God,” Stan whispered, “It can’t be!”

Delirium was completely free. It stared at the five terrified children before it, as they slowly backed away in fear. It slowly walked towards them and extended a claw. They tried to tell themselves to run, but their legs wouldn’t listen.

Then, Delirium spoke. “Look straight into the eyes of madness,” it said. Its voice was impossible to describe. Stan could only liken it to what fear sounds like.

“Don’t look into its eyes,” Stan warned, “I think it might try to do something.” Stan looked at his friends. They were all looking down now. Except for Kenny.

“Kenny!” Stan called out. But it was too late.

Delirium touched one long finger to Kenny’s forehead and stared directly into his eyes. Kenny’s eyes widened as they met the ones made of pure glass.

“Quick, we need to get out of here!” Kyle shouted. He and Stan quickly grabbed Kenny’s arms, then the five boys took off running, not even bothering to look back to see if they were being chased. They didn’t stop running until they got back to Butters’s house.


	5. In Which Delirium Really Likes to Crawl Through Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys try to figure out what's wrong with Kenny. Then, they hear a scream.

When they finally made it back to Butters’s house, they closed the front door and locked it with every lock they could find. No one said anything as they all took a minute to catch their breaths. Eventually, Cartman spoke.

“So, Stan,” he growled, “Have any other bright ideas? Maybe one that will actually get us killed instead of almost killed?”

“Hey, I didn’t see you objecting!” Stan protested, “Besides, I didn’t know it could do that! Like you could come up with anything better, fatass!”

Cartman scoffed, but Kyle spoke. “Yeah, Cartman! I don’t hear you coming up with any ideas!” he pointed out.

“That’s because I have so many awesome ideas I don’t know which to choose,” Cartman exaggerated. The three broke into an argument.

“Uh, g-guys?” Butters interrupted, “Y-You m-might want t-to take a l-look at Kenny.”

Stan, Kyle, and Cartman immediately stopped arguing and ran over to Kenny. Looking at him, he looked totally out of it. He was staring at nothing, and his eyes were wide and glazed over. He was shaking slightly, and seemed to be muttering quietly to himself. He looked even worse than Butters did at the moment.

“Kenny?” Kyle called softly, “Are you all right, buddy?” Kenny didn’t respond.

“Ew, dude, he’s not even blinking,” Cartman muttered, looking closely at him. He reached out a hand to poke him, but Stan smacked him away.

“Dude! Don’t touch him!” he ordered, “We don’t know what’s wrong with him!”

“Well, do you remember what happened?” Kyle wondered.

Stan thought back to a few minutes ago. “Well, Delirium said some cryptic bullshit, then it touched Kenny’s forehead with one of its fingers,” he explained.

Kyle leaned in close to Kenny, trying to hear what he was saying. Everyone remained quiet, holding their breaths as they waited. Finally, Kyle straightened.

“He’s muttering something about madness and the eyes,” he told everyone, “Like, seeing them everywhere. I don’t really understand what he’s trying to explain.”

“W-W-What are w-we g-gonna do, f-f-fellas?” Butters stammered nervously.

Stan looked at his friends, then looked at Kenny. He was still standing there, eyes wide and shaking. Stan sighed.

“I think for now we should get Kenny home,” he replied eventually, “Maybe a good night’s rest will help him snap out of... whatever this is.”

The group bid Butters good-night and helped walk Kenny home, as he didn’t seem interested in walking himself.

…

Kenny laid in his bed, wide awake, staring up at the ceiling. He hadn’t even changed out of his orange parka. After his friends left, Kenny hadn’t moved an inch. He was afraid. If he moved, it would get him. If he moved, it would see him. If he moved… it would kill him. All he had to do was not move. Don’t move.

There was a faint sound, and Kenny’s eyes darted to the corner where it came from. Was it the monster? Oh God, had it found him already? It wanted to rip him to shreds. His breathing started coming in short bursts and his heart started racing.

Something was staring at him. Something evil. Kenny dared to raise his head an inch and look. There it was. In the corner. It was glaring at him. It wasn’t Delirium, but he could tell it was just as bad. Kenny wondered if he could make a break for it before this monster noticed he was awake.

Maybe if he closed his eyes it would go away? Kenny quickly shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep. After a minute or two, he carefully opened one eye to look. No. It was still there, still glaring at him, still poised to attack. Kenny couldn’t take it anymore. Death was more pleasurable than this.

Racing from his bed, Kenny bolted for the window, hoping he was faster than the monster. He crashed through it, and shards of glass pierced him, killing him.

As the night went still, Delirium stood over the boy, staring down at him with that wicked smile. And those horrible glass eyes.

…

Stan, Kyle, and Cartman walked home from Kenny’s house in silence. None of them really knew what to do or say. It was clear they didn’t know enough about Delirium to stop it yet. But if they didn’t do anything, it would just be allowed to roam around, doing what it pleased. Who knows what it was capable of?

“I hope Kenny is doing better by tomorrow,” Kyle lamented, breaking the silence.

“Me too,” Stan agreed, “It’s kind of creepy with him just standing there, staring. I wonder why Kenny’s like that, but Butters is just nervous and stuttering.”

“Huh, I didn’t think about that,” Kyle said, “It can’t have to do with just touching, because it grabbed my leg, and I’m fine.”

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Cartman accused, “I mean, you are a Jew!”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “And what is that supposed to mean, fatass?” he growled.

Cartman held up his hands defensively. “I don’t mean anything, except that you’re a dirty Jew,” he explained, “Maybe you’re immune to its evil, because Jews are already evil.”

Kyle stopped and glared at him. Stan put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm the rage he knew was building in his friend. Kyle opened his mouth to start off on a tangent, but at that moment, a horrified scream from a nearby house interrupted them.

“That sounded like Clyde!” Stan exclaimed, “We have to go help him!”

“Why?” Cartman asked as Stan and Kyle ran off to Clyde’s house.

…

A few minutes ago, Clyde had just stepped out of the shower and into his own room. He quickly towel dried, then started putting on his clothes. After he was done with that, he stood in front of his mirror, brushing his still damp hair. He sighed a little, just not feeling really into it at the moment, and wondered briefly if Craig or Token were still awake.

Then he actually focused on his reflection. Why was it smiling at him? He wasn’t smiling! Clyde blinked and rubbed his eyes, then looked back at the mirror. The smile had widened into a large toothy grin, and the eyes were glazed over.

I must be really tired or something, Clyde concluded, There’s no way my reflection is moving on its own.

But as he stared, Mirror Clyde started walking forward, his arm outstretched. Eyes widening, Clyde started taking a slow step back as his reflection walked forward. Suddenly, the reflection started coming out of the mirror, and started morphing into something else.

“What the fuck is that?” Clyde whispered as Delirium started to form. He stared in horror as it climbed out of the mirror and stood up. Clyde tried not to look into its cold, dead, glass eyes. The creature stepped forward and extended a claw.

And that’s when Clyde screamed louder than he ever had before. Screamed for his life as the creature came closer and closer.


	6. In Which the Kids Start to Learn About Delirium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan and Kyle come to Clyde's rescue. Then something strange happens at the school...

Stan and Kyle burst into Clyde’s house with Cartman apathetically trailing behind. They heard another shout from upstairs and quickly ran up the stairs (except for Cartman.) When they burst into the room, they found Clyde on the floor with his arm up for protection as Delirium stood over him, ginning its evil grin.

“Clyde! Whatever you do, don’t look it in the eyes!” Stan exclaimed. The boy nodded and shut his eyes.

Delirium turned away from Clyde and spotted Stan and Kyle. Grin widening, Delirium started slinking towards them. It raised its claw, intending to slash at them.

“What do we do?” Kyle asked, scared.

Thinking quickly, Stan grabbed the nearest object, a baseball bat that Clyde had sitting near the door, and smashed it over Delirium’s head. It hissed with pain, and the boys used the opportunity to flee from the room.

“Come on, Cartman!” Stan called as the three of them ran past him at the top of the stairs.

Cartman glared at them as they ran. “Are you fucking serious?” he growled, “I just got up the stairs!” But still, he turned and started hobbling back down the stairs.

When they all reached the street, they stopped and stared back at the house, panting. It was a moment before anyone spoke.

“What the hell was that?!” Clyde demanded, his voice still filled with fear.

“Um, we’re not sure exactly what it is,” Stan told him, “We just know that it’s called Delirium and it’s the thing that Butters saw in the woods.”

Clyde looked back at his house. “Well, what am I supposed to do now?” he muttered, “I guess I’ll have to ask Craig if I can stay at his house tonight. And then get the military to blow up my house.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?” Kyle asked.

“No,” Clyde replied, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

…

After everyone got home safely, the night seemed to pass slowly. Stan made sure not to look at any mirrors as he made his way to his room. None of them slept the rest of the night.

When morning came around, Stan practically fell out of bed from tiredness. Groaning, he pulled on his hat and skipped the bathroom. He didn’t want to risk having Delirium crawl out of the mirror. He was glad his parents didn’t ask about his ruffled appearance. When he finished forcing down his cereal, Stan slowly shuffled off to the bus stop.

Unsurprisingly, Kyle and Cartman looked dead tired as well. What was surprising was Kenny’s appearance. He was standing there, looking perfectly calm and normal, as if what happened yesterday didn’t happen.

“(Hey, Stan!)” Kenny greeted him. Stan groaned.

“What are you so perky about this morning?” he asked, his voice slow and a little slurred, “You were acting so strange yesterday! What happened?”

“(Well, when Delirium touched me, I felt like I was going insane,)” Kenny explained, “(I kept seeing all these monsters and shit. I couldn’t take it, so I jumped out the window and killed myself and now I feel fine.)”

His three friends stared at him with a mixture of shock, confusion, and skepticism. “Yeah, okay, Kenny,” Kyle scoffed, “You killed yourself and now you feel fine. Sure.”

Kenny frowned at him and muttered something under his breath. “(Fine, don’t believe me!)” he hissed.

None of the boys spoke again until the bus pulled up. They climbed on and took their seats. As they sat down, Stan looked around and was a little surprised to see Clyde and Butters on the bus. He would’ve thought they would want to stay home today. Beside him, Cartman gasped.

“Look!” he said to Stan, “Tweek is all twitchy and stuttering! Delirium must’ve gotten to him! We’ve gotta get out of here!”

“What are you talking about, dumbass?” Kyle scolded, “Tweek is always like that!”

Cartman blinked at him. “I know,” he muttered.

…

The children were all quite in for a shock when they got to school. A bunch of police officers were standing around, and the front entrance was closed off. Confused, Stan and his friends went over to where Officer Barbrady was barking orders as the other children hung back.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Kyle asked.

“Stand back, children!” Barbrady ordered, “This is a crime scene! We just got here, and we’re not sure what has happened yet.”

“Does this mean school is canceled?” Cartman asked hopefully.

His question went unanswered as another officer walked up. “We’ve got the report, sir,” he said, “It appears one of the teachers committed suicide.” He handed Barbrady a folder full of pictures and reports.

From where he was standing, and how clumsily Barbrady was holding the pictures, Stan could see them easily, and he felt fear jump up inside him. There was a picture of a bloody class room with a teacher hanging from the ceiling. His arms were cut and bleeding. Written on the walls in what appeared to be blood were the words “GLASS EYES,” and hundreds of drawings of eyes. Stan took a few steps back and his friends followed.

“What is it, Stan?” Kyle asked.

“I think Delirium made that teacher go insane and kill himself,” Stan whispered so the police wouldn’t over hear, “I could see the pictures they took. He wrote ‘glass eyes’ all over the walls. And there were a bunch of pictures of eyes.”

“Whoa,” Cartman breathed, “You know what this means, guys?”

“Yeah,” Kyle replied solemnly, “That Delirium creature is even more dangerous than we first thought!”

“No!” Cartman snapped, “It means no school!”

As Kyle gave him an annoyed look, the other children walked up to them.

“So, do they know what’s going on yet?” Token asked.

“One of the teachers committed suicide,” Stan explained, “He went crazy and slashed up his arms before hanging himself.”

“And they’re canceling school!” Cartman added excitedly.

“That hasn’t been confirmed yet, fatass!” Kyle scolded. Butters shuffled over to the friends, nervously.

“I-Is it D-Delirium?” he asked in a shaky voice.

“I think so,” Stan replied.

“Who’s Delirium?” Craig asked. Butters turned back to the group.

“It’s this s-scary m-monster th-that comes outta yer r-reflection!” he told them all, “It s-stares at ya w-with its b-blank eyes and t-toothy grin!”

“Wait,” Jason interrupted, “Is this that monster you were raving about the other day? The one we all decided wasn’t real?”

“It’s r-real, I t-tells ya!” Butters insisted.

Before anyone could say otherwise, Stan quickly stepped forward. “It’s true!” he claimed, “It is real! Cartman, Kyle, Kenny, and I have seen it as well! It crawled out of my mirror and attacked us!”

One of the girls scoffed. “Yeah right! You’re just a bunch of liars!” she huffed.

“They’re not lying,” Clyde defended, stepping forward. There were a few surprised looks. “I’ve seen it. It attacked me last night, and these guys saved me.”

Everyone was silent at this revelation. It was several minutes before someone spoke.

“What do we do about it, then?” Tweek asked, nervously clutching Craig’s arm.

Stan put on a brave face as he addressed everyone. “I don’t know.”


	7. In Which the Adults are Totally Useless as Usual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan and his friends try to use their free time to learn about Delirium. But unfortunately, Delirium strikes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry this and my other stories have taken so long to update. I’ve been really feeling my depression lately, and it’s hard for me to get motivated to write when I’m like this. I start to feel like all my work is crap when I get like that. I’ll try to have chapters up sooner.)

The kids were a lot more cautious the next few days. Stan and Kyle had told everyone everything they learned about Delirium so far so they could all be on the lookout. Any time some one passed by a mirror or something that showed their reflection, they would rush past it and try not to look at it. Most of the adults didn’t really notice this strange behavior change and ignored it. Not that that was all that surprising.

As Cartman had predicted, they didn’t have school that week due to the suicide. Which left the boys wondering what to do in the meantime.

“What are we going to do about Delirium?” Stan asked his friends as they sat around at the playground. The school was closed, but the kids were still allowed on the playground. They just weren’t allowed to go inside.

Cartman scoffed. “Who cares?” he asked, “School’s out! Play time!”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “If we don’t stop Delirium, people are going to keep dying!” he growled, “Don’t you even care?” As Cartman opened his mouth to reply, Kyle sighed. “Right, of course you don’t. Because you don’t care about anything.”

“I care about things,” Cartman objected. Kyle gave him an incredulous look. Cartman cleared his throat and looked away.

“Anyway,” Stan continued, “What can we do about Delirium? Is there anything we can do?” His friends remained silent.

“M-Maybe if we i-ignore it, it’ll g-g-go away,” Butters suggested.

“I doubt it,” Kyle sighed, “It would help if we knew where it came from. I mean, I know that article said a cult summoned it, but that’s not a lot to go on. What kind of cult? And did the cult summon it this time?”

“Ugh, all these questions are making me hungry!” Cartman whined, falling back on the merry-go-round.

“(What doesn’t make you hungry?)” Kenny muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Come on, guys! Focus!” Stan urged, “We need to figure out a way to get more information about Delirium.”

They all fell silent for a moment before Kenny spoke up. “(Maybe the goths would know something,)” he suggested, “(After all, they are in that Cthulu cult. And I feel like Delirium is something they would be into.)”

Kyle curled his upper lip at the suggestion. “Really? The goths?” he groaned, “Those guys are freaks who think the world is against them and do nothing but complain about everything and smoke.”

“Yes, but Kenny has a point,” Stan argued, “I mean, it’s the best idea we have at the moment. We have to try something.”

“Ok, but you’re doing all the talking,” Kyle told him. Stan sighed.

“Fine,” he said, “Um, does anyone know where the goths are now?”

“No idea,” Cartman replied nonchalantly.

“(They’re probably around the back of the school somewhere, killing their lungs,)” Kenny remarked with an eye roll.

The five boys searched around the school together, trying to find the goths until, sure enough, they found Michael, Pete, Henrietta, and Firkle hanging around behind the cafeteria, smoking. They looked annoyed as the five friends approached.

“What do you conformists want?” Michael asked after taking a long drag.

Stan waved the smoke out of his face before replying. “We were wondering if you could help us,” he told them.

“With what?”

“Have you guys heard of Delirium?” Stan wondered.

Pete took a long drag from his cigarette before speaking. “Maybe we have. Maybe we haven’t. What’s it to you?”

Stan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Assholes. “We need to know how to stop it before it makes the entire town go insane,” he argued, “Do you know anything about it or not? Because we’re not going to waste our time with you if you don’t.”

Michael cocked an eyebrow at him and considered his words for a moment. “Fine,” he said at last, “Yes, we know of it. It brings fear and madness to those who looks into its eyes. Then it touches its victims and makes them so paranoid and crazy that they want to kill themselves.”

“(Hey! That’s what happened to me!)” Kenny exclaimed.

“So, what can we do about it?” Stan questioned.

Before Michael could answer, Mr. Adler walked out of the cafeteria behind them. “Hey! No screwing around out here!” he shouted at them, “You all screw around too much!” Then he went back into the building.

The kids all stared before turning back to their conversation. “So, what can we do about it?” Stan asked again.

“You got me,” Michael replied, shrugging, “We haven’t gotten that far in our research. All we really know right now is that you can’t predict anything about it.”

…

It was getting dark by the time Stan and his friends made it home. They hadn’t found out anything more about Delirium, despite spending all afternoon in the library. Stan had bribed the goths into letting them know if they found out anything more about the monster. Before Stan got into bed, he took the hand mirror on his desk and threw it out the window. Then he threw a blanket over the TV. When he was sure there were no more reflective surfaces in his room, Stan climbed into bed and fell into a troubled sleep.

At Henrietta’s house, the goth girl was meditating before bed. She had her standing mirror in front of her that she liked to use for meditation. No, she wasn’t worried about Delirium potentially attacking. Why would? She was a Satan worshiper, a child of the darkness. It wouldn’t go after her.

Because her eyes were closed, she didn’t see her reflection slowly changing. Its eyes were open. Then it was grinning. And the reflections eyes went blank like glass, and it stood up. Henrietta didn’t notice Delirium crawling out of the mirror. She didn’t open her eyes until it was right in front of her. She let out a horrified shriek.

But by then it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN! Another cliff hanger! Yeah, I suck. Anyway, sorry for taking so long to update this. Maybe I’ll have the next chapter up sooner, and maybe at some point I can start making the chapters longer. But who knows?


End file.
